the end or new start
by charming-witch
Summary: Angel and his friends are facing the demons after destroying the Circle of the Black Thorn finale . Can they win? Maybe with a little help of old friends? And what will happen after that?


I couldn't resist starting a new fic. Hope someone likes it.  
  
It's an Angel & Buffy fic settled right after the finale of Angel and one year after the finale of Buffy.  
  
I still don´t own anything. I'm just writing for fun. ;-)  
  
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Angel stood in front of his friend, sword in one hand. He knew they couldn't make it. There were too many of them. Wolfram and Hart must have sent nearly every evil being they knew. But Angel had known that and his friends had known it as well. They would all die that night, but they´d make sure that many of those demons would go with them. He could still feel the power of the blood he had drunk before, the power of his worst enemy. He'dl use that power against the demons...  
  
Suddenly someone jumped to Angel's side.  
  
"Connor, no, go home", Angel shouted at his son.  
  
"No, I won't just go and let you die, Dad".  
  
Angel looked at his son. Had he just called him Dad? He opened his moth to talk again, but there was no time, the demons attacked.  
  
Angel moved left quickly and cut off a demons head. Another one immediately took his place attacking Angel. While fighting Angel looked around at his friends. Spike looked happy while stabbing one vampire after the other. Illyria killed one demon, attacking the next one immediatelly. Connor moved faster than most demons killing many of them. Only Gunn seemed really tired, but he still fought. Angel moved to his side, not wanting to let another friend die while he was still able to fight.  
  
They all fought hard and killed many demons, but there came more and more. Angel didn't know how long they would be able to fight on. They now stood in a circle, protecting each other. Gunn fell back bleeding hard. The others instantly surrounded him.  
  
Angel felt himself getting slower and tired. His friends must feel the same, he thought looking around. At that moment one of the demons pulled Connor out of the circle and hit him hard. Connor fell to the ground and didn't move. Angel tried to get to him, but couldn't pass all the demons in front of him.  
  
"No", he cried while a demon standing over Connor started swinging his axe.  
  
Seconds before the axe hit Connor the demon suddenly fell to the ground, two arrows in his chest. Angel looked around. Who could have shot them? They didn't have any crossbows with them.  
  
"Great shot, B", someone shouted.  
  
"Yours, too, F." Buffy grinned at Faith and jumped down the small wall they were standing on.  
  
"Let's show these demons some Slayer Power", she shouted swinging her axe.  
  
"Yeah, ready girls?", Faith shouted looking back at the girls behind her.  
  
They all nodded, jumping over the wall.  
  
Angel stared at Buffy and all the girls behind her. Buffy had made her way over to where Connor was laying and pulled him up.  
  
"Thanks", said Connor looking confused.  
  
"Buffy", Angel said finally reaching them. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Kicking some demon ass", Faith shouted while knocking down a demon and heading over to where Spike and Illyria were fighting while protecting Gunn from being killed.  
  
"Hey there, nice to see you alive again, or well, undead in your case."  
  
"Nice to see you, too. Was about time you came, didn't want to die again", Spike answered, glancing sideways at Buffy.  
  
Faith grinned while kicking a vampire in the chest.  
  
"Who are those girls, Spike", Illyria wanted to know. "Shall I kill them?"  
  
Faith looked at her annoyed. "Try if you want to."  
  
"No, stop it. Illyria, they are friends. They help us, so you won't kill them!" Spike looked at Illyria and hoped she would do what he told her.  
  
Illyria stared at Faith. How could she dare talk to her like that? If there hadn't been so many demons in the way she would have shown that girl who she was talking to.  
  
While Illyria still glared at Faith she jumped and knocked her down. One second later and a sword swung by a red demon would have cut off Illyrias head.  
  
Illyria stared at the sword and than at Faith who helped her getting up quickly.  
  
With one fast move Illyria killed her attacker with his own sword, then looked back at Faith who was fighting another demon.  
  
"Why did you do that?"  
  
"Still trying to be good", Faith answered grinning.  
  
Illyria nodded, still confused and got back into the fight.  
  
Faith smiled at Illyria's confused look, then she saw Gunn, nearly unconscious.  
  
"Get him out of the fight", she shouted at two Slayers nearby. They rushed to him and disappeared soon.  
  
Buffy, Angel and Connor fought side by side, as did Spike, Faith and Illyria some meters away. The other slayers did the same, always in groups, to watch their backs.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
  
Everything seemed so unreal, strange and ... well, ... grey, he thought. Why was he here? And why could he still think? Didn't he just die?  
  
"Wesley", a voice called. He knew that voice and looked around.  
  
"Fred?" No, it couldn't be her.  
  
"Illyria, turn back. It's enough now", he said.  
  
"I'm not Illyria, my dear", she answered smiling.  
  
"Fred, is it really you?"  
  
"Yes, Wesley", she whispered and kissed him. He kissed her back happily, and then he stopped and pulled away.  
  
"But how? Aren't you dead? And what about me, am I dead, too?"  
  
"Yes, we are", she answered sadly.  
  
"What are we doing here then? And where are we?" He looked around confused.  
  
"These are the ghost roads, and I think we are here, because we don't want to move on yet, or maybe can't. I'm not exactly sure. All I know is that it is good, that I'm still here."  
  
"It's good, being at such a place? No, Fred, you deserve better."  
  
"Wesley, it's o.k. That I am here is good. Not because it's a nice place, but because I can help here. Let me explain to you", she added, as he wanted to interrupt her.  
  
"When I first came here everything was confusing and strange for me. I was alone and I missed you so much. But then I met Lucy..."  
  
"...Hannover? The Slayer", Wesley asked.  
  
"Yes, she once was the Slayer, now she guides lost souls here on the ghost roads. She told me many things and so I learned how to see what is going on in the real world. There I saw you, how sad you were."  
  
Wesley looked at Fred, his love, standing right in front of him, talking. But she looked so strange, somehow transparent and grey. But it still was Fred. He just listened to her enjoying the feeling to be with her again.  
  
"I wanted to make contact, to just talk to you one more time. After some convincing Lucy started teaching me. Sadly, it didn't work. I tried so hard, but you couldn't hear me. Still, I didn't stop trying. And I watched you. That's how I saw what happened yesterday, when Angel told you his plan. I knew you wouldn't survive it, not alone. I couldn't let that happen. Not even if we were together again. But what could I do, dead as I am. So I had to find someone else to help and the only one strong enough to help in that kind of fight is a Slayer, I thought. I tried to find Lucy to help me contact one of the Slayers, but she was gone helping some lost souls. I was frustrated, but didn't want to give up. I tried reaching you again, but as always it didn't work. Then I remembered, that Lucy had told me, that she had made contact to Willow several times. As a witch she seemed to be easier to contact. So I tried that. I could hardly believe it, but it worked. I told her everything and she immediately agreed to help." Fred smiled at Wesley.  
  
"But,... but she didn't come, no one came to help, Fred. I'm sorry..."  
  
"They came, Wesley, too late for you, but they came and they are fighting right now. I can see them."  
  
"How? What are they doing?"  
  
"Close your eyes and concentrate, on the ones you want to see, Wesley. You have to see their faces in front of you and concentrate hard, then you will be able to see them."  
  
Wesley did what she had told him and after some minutes of trying he suddenly saw them.  
  
Buffy slayed a vampire, Angel fought a big ugly demon and Connor a smaller but faster one.  
  
"Connor? He's there?" Wesley could hardly believe it.  
  
"Yes, he finally seems to have accepted and started to like Angel", Fred said smiling.  
  
"You remember him, too?"  
  
"Yes, after dying we left the place where reality has been changed", she answered.  
  
They both fell silent and watched the fight again.  
  
It really was a long and hard fight, but after the Slayers had arrived it wasn't anymore that hopeless.  
  
Suddenly a big bright light could be seen. For some moments it seemed more like day than night and in those moments all vampires except for Angel and Spike turned to ash.  
  
"Willow! Was about time you showed up", Buffy shouted.  
  
"Sorry, been busy", Willow grinned and threw a big demon against the next wall by waving her hand.  
  
Behind Willow Xander, Dawn, Giles, Andrew and Kennedy appeared, immediately stepping into the fight.  
  
"Need some help?"Xander asked swinging his sword.  
  
"Is that the same Xander I knew", Angel asked confused.  
  
"Things change", Buffy answered killing an ugly demon.  
  
"And some don't", Angel said. "You still slay as good as ever!"  
  
Both grinned and got back into the fight immediately.  
  
The friends fought together again, killing demon after demon and trying to protect each other at the same time. They fought hard and the demons seemed to get less. After the other demons saw, that they might get killed, they started running.  
  
At the end every living demon ran as fast as he could and the friends stood there, exhausted and wounded, but smiling.  
  
Buffy looked around. "Everyone o.k.?"  
  
"Most of us are", Faith answered. "But not all made it and some are injured."  
  
Buffy looked sadly at the dead Slayers she had trained over the last year. At least they died as heroes, she thought and quickly looked away to not start crying.  
  
"Kennedy, Will, Xander, are you o.k.? Can you get the wounded together? We should take them to the bus as fast as possible."  
  
"Sure, Buffy", Xander answered.  
  
"Well, seems like we won", Buffy smiled weakly at her living friends.  
  
"Yes, thanks to you. Nice that you came, didn't want to be killed", Spike said stepping forward.  
  
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what do you think? Wanna read more? Shall this be the end or maybe the beginning of a fic? I have some more ideas, so if you are interested in reading them please review! 


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